All articles tagged with #galactic interactions
The Vera Rubin Observatory's first observations have revealed a faint stellar stream emanating from the galaxy Messier 61, showcasing its unprecedented capability to detect low-surface-brightness features and opening new avenues for understanding galaxy interactions and evolution.
A recent study suggests that the Andromeda and Milky Way galaxies may already be exchanging stars, with hypervelocity stars (HVSs) potentially migrating from Andromeda to the Milky Way. These HVSs, among the fastest objects in the Galaxy, are believed to be ejected due to gravitational interactions between binary stars and black holes. The study calculated the trajectories of 18 million HVSs and found that a small percentage are now within a radius of 50kpc around the Milky Way center. The team's simulations suggest that it is highly likely for HVSs from Andromeda to migrate to the Milky Way, and further studies are needed to detect them based on stellar velocity and trajectories.
The Hubble Space Telescope has captured images of ARP 271, a pair of interacting galaxies about 130 million light-years away, showing a bridge of stars connecting them. These interactions can trigger or quench star formation, and astronomers believe ARP 271 could serve as a blueprint for the eventual Milky Way/Andromeda interaction. Galaxies throughout the Universe are constantly interacting and merging, shaping the evolution of the cosmos over billions of years.
The Hubble Space Telescope captured an image of two galaxies, NGC 3558 and LEDA 83465, which are close neighbors in the galactic cluster Abell 1185. NGC 3558 is a LINER, a galactic nucleus emitting weakly ionized or non-ionized light, likely formed by devouring smaller galaxies in the cluster. The interaction between galaxies in Abell 1185 can lead to dramatic results, but NGC 3558 has retained its integrity so far. The mechanism behind the weak ionization in LINERs is still debated among astronomers.